Current state of early essential newborn care implementation in four counties in western China: a mixed methods research / 中华围产医学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To explore the status of early essential newborn care (EENC) implementation in four counties in western China.Methods:Based on the 18 counties from "safety newborn project", which was jointly launched by the National Health Commission (NHC) of China and United Nations Children's Fund, one county was randomly selected from Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, and Guizhou, Sichuan and Qinghai Province, respectively (Longde county, Qinglong county, Tongjiang county, and Tongren county). Then one or two county-level birth facilities were randomly selected from each county for the field investigation from December 2020 to April 2021. Information of EENC core practice implementation was collected through questionnaires for mother-newborn dyads, and interviewees' experiences, attitudes, and needs for EENC implementation were obtained through focus group discussion and in-depth interviews with mothers. SAS 9.4 and NVivo 12.0 were used for quantitative and qualitative data analysis, then the results were integrated.Results:A total of 599 questionnaires for mother-newborn dyads were collected from the four counties, and 45 health staff and 15 mothers were interviewed. The proportion of participants with skin-to-skin contact (SSC) ≥90 min was the highest in Qinglong County, Guizhou Province (90.0%, 95% CI85.2%-94.8%), followed by Tongjiang County, Sichuan Province (83.6%, 95% CI77.7%-89.5%). The highest rate of early breastfeeding initiation was observed in Tongren County, Qinghai Province (99.3%, 95% CI97.8%-100.0%). The positive experience of SSC for mothers were mainly from the promotion of happiness and early breastfeeding. Applied no medicine to the end of the umbilical cord, neonatal routine eye care, and vitamin K 1 administration were successfully promoted in the four counties, which gradually became a norm. However, some respondents still had doubts about SSC and applying no medicine to the end of the umbilical cord. Conclusions:Core practices recommended in EEEC were successfully introduced to the project counties despite concerns about certain practices from some medical staff and mothers. Further dissemination and training for EENC were needed to promote the scale-up of EENC in China.